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LMS: the importance of the notification management system

An automatic notification system improves the user experience of the platform and simplifies training management. Learn how.

Due to the absence of physical interaction, in an eLearning environment it is essential that communication is immediate and timely, in order to maintain a high level of involvement and participation of all actors involved (trainees, teachers, training managers, etc.).

With this in mind, many LMSs offer powerful automatic notification management systems that allow you to keep communication and information exchange active and continuous without someone having to actually take care of writing unique and personalized messages every time to send to trainees, trainers and platform administrators.

Automatic notifications, in fact, are email messages that are automatically sent by the platform when a certain event occurs. For example, when a user completes a course, you could have the platform:

  • send the user the end-of-course certificate;
  • inform the training manager that the user has successfully completed the course, sending him or her any additional documents that are useful for assessing the impact of the course on the trainee's skills (for example, the learning tests that he or she has completed);
  • send to the platform administrator or to the training manager the course fruition statistics, the results of the satisfaction questionnaires and any other data useful to evaluate the effectiveness of the course.

All this without any human intervention, except for the initial definition and creation of the messages to be sent.

The automatic notifications have the dual advantage of improving the user experience of the platform and simplify the management of training, as they reduce manual actions in every phase of the training process: from sending the credentials to access the course, to extracting and sending reports with the statistics of use, to the dissemination, collection and analysis of questionnaires of learning or satisfaction.

Management of automatic notifications with DynDevice LMS

DynDevice LMS, for example, in order to minimize the activities of platform administrators, provides ready-made templates for most scenarios.

Each model on DynDevice LMS is editable by the administrator, who can then customize it by inserting their own references.

How to use automatic notifications in an LMS

Let's see now in detail some possible use cases of automatic notifications within an LMS.

Notifications to trainees

A notification management system allows you to automate communications to trainees, reducing manual actions by teachers, platform administrators and training managers. Sending personalized and periodic messages to learners will help increase their involvement, make them feel part of a community, and make sure they don't feel lost or abandoned.

Here are a few examples of messages you could automate:

Before the course begins:

  • course registration confirmation;
  • sending of access credentials to the course (if it is held online);
  • sending of logistical information (if the course is held in the classroom): for example, the address of the location where the lesson will take place, directions, parking information, etc.;
  • reminder of the start of the course, to be sent close to the beginning of the lessons;
  • calendar of lessons (if the course is held in synchronous mode: videoconference or classroom);
  • calendar of exams.

While taking an online course:

  • support information, such as information on how to contact content tutors and/or technical support;
  • course deadline reminder, to remind the user of the date by which he/she must complete the course;
  • slow fruition reminder, to be sent to students who are not using the course or are using it in a longer time than expected. The advantage of this type of message is that it reduces course completion times and dropout rates;
  • assessments related to tests or exams;
  • exam reminders that are due;
  • messages of encouragement or congratulations for progress in courses or for passing scheduled exams;
  • feedback request, by which to ask students if the training is progressing smoothly, what their impressions of the course are, or any difficulties encountered.

At the end of the course

  • sending of the end-of-course certificate;
  • invitation to fill in the satisfaction questionnaire or other documents required by the administrator;
  • sending up-selling or cross-selling messages, inviting the trainee to complete their training by proposing the purchase of similar or more advanced courses;
  • sending discount coupons for the purchase of other products or services.

Notifications to platform administrators and training managers

Another use case for automated notifications concerns communications to platform administrators and training managers.

These messages could relate to course utilization data. For example, notifications with which to inform training managers that a user has started a course or completed it, or with which to send learning tests or customer satisfaction questionnaires completed by trainees.

In addition, automatic notifications could be set up to periodically send reports on training activities carried out or to be carried out: information on courses completed and those that have expired, a list of courses due to expire that have not yet been completed by users, reports on compulsory courses that are about to expire, etc.

A system of automatic notifications allows managers and administrators to keep the status of training under control without having to personally search and download data every time. Once they have identified the information they are interested in and the frequency of sending it, the platform will take care of delivering the reports directly to the administrator's inbox.

Notifications to Teachers

The last use case of automatic notifications within an LMS is messages to teachers. In this case, too, various types of communication can be automated:

  • information about enrollment of students;
  • sending of assignment letters (with possible request for signature and uploading of the document to the platform);
  • sending of access credentials to the platform (if the course is held online);
  • sending of logistic information to reach the course location (if the course is held in the classroom);
  • course start-up reminder, to be sent close to the beginning of the lessons;
  • calendar of the assigned lessons (if the course is held in synchronous mode: videoconference or classroom);
  • calendar of exams;
  • notifications of any actions required: for example, correction of a learning test, confirmation of a session or exam, etc.

Tips for writing effective automatic notifications

As we've seen, managing an automatic notification system can streamline many of the tasks required of platform administrators and instructors, as well as improve the learner experience.

However, all of this is subject to the implementation of certain measures related to the style, tone and structure of the messages sent. Here are some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of automatic notifications.

  • Choose a clear and concise subject: the fact that an email is sent does not mean that it is also read by the recipient. It is therefore essential that the subject line of the email is clear, concise and immediately makes it clear what the content of the message is.
  • Use simple language and short texts: the simpler and more schematic the content of your email, the more easily the recipient will understand the content, avoiding misunderstandings, wasting time and complaints.
  • Make your request clear: does the user have to fill in a form? Don't get lost in unnecessary premises: formulate your request now and, only afterwards, provide any explanations (but only if necessary).
  • Pay attention to the form: make sure that the text is well written, that it does not contain grammatical errors and that it is personalized (for example, pay attention to gender differences).

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator


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